Archive for the ‘Building a Home’ Category

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December 7th, 2011  Posted at   Building a Home
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There are basically two types of home buying options; custom homes or production houses. For custom homes you hire a construction company to build on your plot, while a production home is buying an already built home on the company’s land site. While production houses also have their own benefits, it is these homes that many of us dreams of. Who wouldn’t want a beautiful dream home that is built exactly the way they imagined it? In case you are unsure about whether this is a better option, here are three major benefits that can help you get a better understanding:

1. Get a Dream Home

Each one of us dreams of what our home would look like. Some of us are lucky enough to make sure this dream comes true. You can build the kitchen the way you want, have the rooms designed in a special way for your kids. Create a personal sanctuary for peace and meditation. All these are possibilities when you have a home built according to a laid out design plan. You will have to employ a professional company that offers you unique flooring plans. If you can sketch your own design that would definitely be a great boost.

2. No Repairs or Renovations

Most of the time, you have to renovate a production house to suit your living style. With custom-built houses, you don’t have to worry about such a problem anymore. There will be no need for manipulations and no costly renovations needed. However, for this to be the “perfect” home, you also need to have a perfect design plan.

Never hurry in creating your design plan, but rather put in a good though process and feel what you want from each room, each space in your home. Even with design plans, make sure everything is according to your liking and that you have a good understanding of how your home would look like and then go on with it.

3. You Control the Cost

With custom houses, you control the cost. You know what products are being used, what paints are required and what the overall cost of the object is. You don’t have to pay any hidden, upfront charges. Everything is in your control and later this house will give an excellent resale value. (more…)

December 7th, 2011  Posted at   Building a Home
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Investment properties in Australia are a hot commodity; not only can you increase your real estate investment portfolio, you can also use your investment property to garner additional income for your family. One of the ways to accumulate an investment property is to buy or build a duplex or other dual-occupancy property. A dual-occupancy residence can be detached or semi-attached, such as an apartment over the garage or a separate building on a piece of property. When building a duplex, tips and advice from those who have been in your situation prove an immense help to you before and after you begin the process of construction.

Know the law

Building a duplex, or granny flat, requires knowing a bit about real estate law. You cannot build any structure without the proper permits and you should never build any structure for investment purposes without first checking with an accountant regarding the tax you are required to pay upon sale of the duplex or on the money you earn as rent from the duplex.

Meet all council building requirements

In addition, your duplex must meet all structural, height, floor space and other relevant and required restrictions before it can be built. This requires making a blueprint of the structure and including all relevant details of the building. You can, however, add on to an existing structure to turn it into a duplex or build an entirely new structure on empty land.

What will you use the duplex for?

Before you begin construction on your duplex, there are a number of other factors you need to keep in mind. The first is what you plan on using the duplex for. Many people commonly take advantage of these granny flats as a way to care for elderly family members.

The addition of a granny flat, or duplex, gives you the space and privacy you desire as well as the proximity required to take care of your elderly parent or grandparent. Others use their granny flats as an apartment for recent graduates looking to move away from home for a little more privacy; since many graduates cannot afford a place of their own until school is over and jobs are secured, parents are letting their kids stay in their duplex while they go to school. The situation is a win-win for both parents and their adult children.

Your other option is to rent out the duplex to someone outside of your family. This method of investment generates income for you by renting the granny flat to someone with a contract requiring them to pay a set amount of rent each month. (more…)

December 6th, 2011  Posted at   Building a Home
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There are several considerations in the drafting of the plans for the home you have been contemplating in your mind to construct. Aside from the materials and labor you have identified to utilize in its construction, the site location is also of vital importance. Several problems have been encountered during project implementation because the location’s topography and other site conditions were overlooked.

Site inspection is a critical phase in planning. Major unforeseen events unfavorable to the owner can be avoided if a well-coordinated effort in investigating the project location is undertaken. The estimated cost of the project can be realistically prepared if an actual site inspection is conducted prior to the finalization of the plans. Generally, the cost of the project tends to increase due to the actual site conditions that were not noted during the preparation of the construction plans. This increase in contract costs is termed variation or change orders depending on their effect on the building plans.

What are variation or change orders?

Variation or change orders are changes in the plans that need to be implemented to make the building to be constructed adaptable to actual site conditions. A good example of this change order is when the actual site location is depressed while the plan shows a leveled area. In such a case, big volume of backfilling material is required in addition to the revision of the depth of the columns of the home building. The changes on the floor’s backfilling works and volume of concrete including steel bars to revise the columns are called change or variation orders.

What are the effects of variation or change orders?

If the works called for in the variation or change orders require materials input, it follows that your labor, indirect cost, contractor’s profit and tax will also correspondingly increase. This will eventually jack-up the estimated cost of your home building project. If the amount involve is not provided in your budget contingencies, the effect on your project would be very frustrating. Parallel to your budget increase, it is also possible that your timeline will be affected. If the works required are within your critical path (that is, you have to accomplish it first before you can proceed to the next job like in revising the length of your columns due to the depressed elevations), your completion time will have to be extended.

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